There has been an ongoing global proliferation of lighting products. Typical lighting products use one or more incandescent bulbs. Incandescent bulbs are inexpensive to buy, but generate 90% heat and merely 10% of light, which makes them inefficient and expensive to operate. Further, incandescent bulbs have a very short product life (typically 1000 hours).
Fluorescent lamps are more efficient than incandescent bulbs, but utilize hazardous materials such as mercury. In addition, fluorescent lamps require bulky ballasts that are costly, and make the fluorescent lamps unsuitable for smaller spaces. Further, fluorescent lamps perform poorly in low temperatures. Though fluorescent lamps exhibit longer life than incandescent bulbs, fluorescent lamps are more expensive than incandescent bulbs and still require frequent maintenance, which is fulfilled by intensive labor.